The mushrooms growing on Estonia’s expansive forest floors have found an unlikely new home — inside building walls. Tallinn-based startup Myceen, already known for its mycelium-based design products, has just opened the first building insulated with mushroom materials.
The experimental PAKK Pavilion, unveiled during the 110th anniversary of the Estonian Academy of Arts, will test how mushroom-derived insulation performs against traditional materials in real-world conditions. The compact structure sits in central Tallinn, drawing glances with its distinctive wooden exterior and hiding innovation at its core.
Myceen, which has already shipped its mycelium products to 15 countries, is monitoring the performance of the insulation and comparing it with conventional materials. The pavilion emerged from a collaboration between the startup and the Timber Architecture Research Center. It combines three experimental elements: Myceen’s mushroom insulation, Pattern Building’s modular construction approach, and a new facade system called sLender designed for energy-efficient renovations.
The numbers tell the story behind Myceen’s push into construction: Their insulation matches mineral wool’s thermal performance while absorbing 75% of higher-frequency sound. The material comes from mixing mycelium—mushrooms’ root network—with leftover agricultural and forestry waste, turning €3 worth of waste into €100 worth of insulation per cubic meter.
The timing works well for Myceen, which has just secured €2 million in grants. Myceen’s research is supported by Beamline Accelerator, the Environmental Investment Centre, Estonian Ministry of Climate, European Union co-funding – NextGenerationEU, Enterprise Estonia, the European Commission, and SoTecIn Factory. The company seeks an additional €1-1.5 million in seed funding to build a pilot factory, aiming to scale up production as Europe’s construction industry faces pressure to clean up.
That pressure comes from EU regulations targeting building emissions, which currently comprise 40% of the bloc’s carbon dioxide output. The EU wants 35 million homes renovated for better energy efficiency by 2030. Traditional insulation materials, often petroleum-based or energy-intensive to produce, don’t align with these green goals.
The PAKK Pavilion is open daily for public viewing and shows how Estonia’s mushroom expertise has evolved into high-tech manufacturing. Myceen’s next challenge—scaling production to meet growing demand from builders.
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